Friday, November 07, 2008

Olympus C-770 Super Zoom button circuit board replacement

Earlier I posted about how my camera broke and Olympus refused to help me get the part I needed. Fortunately Black's Photo referred me to another local photo store, which referred me to Nortown Photo, who were helpful and willing to order the part and ship it to me.

Here's the new part, VG052500:Here is the old one, still glued to a metal plate which also supports the big LCD:Here are the slide switch contacts. The problem is the connection to the left bottom contact, which is cut at the horizontal line caused by wear from switch sliding. Note that the new part came with the whole slide switch already installed on the board.The old circuit board had to be removed from the metal plate. It came off like tape. The glue held quite well but it wasn't too hard. Most of the glue stayed on the circuit board, but some remained on the metal plate.The new circuit board did not come with any glue on the back, and the glue remaining on the metal was insufficient and insufficiently sticky. I cleaned the metal plate with isopropyl alcohol and my nails. Then I used some contact cement to glue the new circuit board, making sure it was properly aligned.Here's the inside of the camera's back with the buttons (separate plastic pieces) in their positions:Now it was time to attach the metal plate with the button circuit board and large LCD using four flat head screws:After that, there is a black plastic film which covers the metal part. It was still sufficiently sticky so no additional glue was needed. The rubber backing for the slide switch and copper foil for grounding the top metal plate (backing for top three buttons) were already attached to the plastic. After sticking on the plastic, I attached the top metal plate with two flat screws. Here is the result:Since it was almost time to attach the back, I took some photos of the camera with the back removed. In the second photo, note the small indentation in the back border of the battery and card compartment. The switch which detects if the compartment is open is there.Now it was time to connect the three cables. There's the LCD data cable, a two conductor cable which I assume is the LCD backlight, and the button circuit board. The LCD data cable connector has a latch, so I thought it would be easy, but it was the hardest one. Here is the result:After this I was able to test the camera a bit. Now it was time to figure out what to do with the remaining screws:The exploded parts diagram was quite helpful and it was all pretty straightforward. I only took photos of the hot shoe because that was tricky to disassemble. There are no screws visible there, but actually the shiny metal is a springy clip which can be pried out to reveal four screws which hold the thick metal hot shoe channel. Below that is one screw which holds the back.Finally, here is a photo taken using the repaired C-770. At the top you can see the underside of the slide switch and the edges which rub against the circuit board. Below that you can see the old circuit board.

10 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Thank you very much for all this information. I have de same problem with my c770 since 3 years. Olympus asked me 400$ to repair my camera 2 years ago.How much did you paye the VG052500 part.Did you need also the VG052600(B) part (seen on the exploded parts diagram)?

Thanks for the help! I will copy and paste this keeper. Olympus charged me $176.00 to repair mine. I bought a less expemsive Canon to use as backup. I, too, am interested in how much your do-it-yourself repair cost. I will not send it in for repairs again if it breaks. It was only two years old

thanks for the info. i have a c770uz too, that has developed an issue with the slider switch. basically the photo mode doesn't do anything - it goes straight from playback to video. i already opened this twice but didn't proceed to remove the black film that suppotrs the LCD inside for fear i'd break it! would it be possible to repair the slider myself? there are very limited options to get olympus service here.

If you mean the black plastic film seen here then you have nothing to worry about. It is glued onto a metal plate, so you won't break the LCD when you remove it. The metal plate supports components, and I guess the plastic just prevents things from shorting against the metal.

You can probably repair the switch with electrically conductive ink. Pens with such ink may be ordered online. Stores which sell car parts may sell kits for repairing rear window defrosters, and the compound in those is electrically conductive. Whatever you do, consider protecting your repair from the switch somehow, maybe with some strong tape.

Great tutorial! Very informative in how well worded and descriptive you were! You know they say that if one knows how to describe what they want really well, then life is just as good as how you describe it :)Its great for people who feel like time is running against them and then land on your blog and feel like a whole burden was just lifted off of their shoulder.. I admire and respect people who take time to make it easier for others.. Thanks a bunch! :)